Oxford building permits triple in 2012

OXFORD — A new report shows the number of permits issued for single-family homes in Oxford more than tripled in 2012, jumping from 61 in 2011 to 224 in 2012.

Chris Carter, building inspector for the city, tells the Oxford Eagle that much of the increase was due to student-geared housing developments with cottages that are rented out per bedroom.

Carter said since the units are stand-alone homes, they are counted as single-family homes.

“We have two new developments that are not complete yet, but were issued their permits in 2012 — The Retreat and the Highlands,” Carter said. “Both have mostly cottages in their developments which is a large part of the jump in the permits.”

The value of the single-family-homes was approximately $25.8 million in 2012, which brought $136,909 in permit fees to the city. In 2011, permits totaled approximately $9.3 million, which brought in $42,623 in fees.

Condominiums and apartments also showed jumps with 94 permits issued for condos with a value of approximately $9.2 million and $52,024 in permit fees in 2012 compared to 41 permits issued in 2011 with a value of approximately $3.8 million with $21,633 in fees brought in.

Duplexes went from no permits pulled in 2011 to 39 in 2012 with a value of approximately $6.2 million and $31,402 in permit fees.

“We’re had some big apartment complexes come in — Taylor Bend, Molly Barr Trail and the Hub, which is not complete yet,” Carter said. “Some of the newer developments for students, like The Retreat, are building a few duplexes as well as the cottages. We haven’t seen too many duplexes going up for a while.”